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Best lawyers defending a post office from privatization

Antonio Rossmann, Roger Moore, and Zachary Cowan

When the US Postal Service announced in June 2012 that it hoped to sell Berkeley's historic downtown post office building and relocate operations, the city cried foul. Represented exclusively by the Richard Blum-led commercial real estate broker CBRE, the USPS has been selling public properties around the nation, despite community protests. Yet the USPS seems to have met its match in Berkeley. Pro bono attorneys Antonio Rossmann and Roger Moore worked with City Attorney Zachary Cowan to challenge the USPS's actions at every turn — appealing to the Postal Regulatory Commission, enlisting the assistance of Congress, and providing testimony for a report issued by the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which called for a halt to historic post office sales. When a local developer initiated a contract with the USPS to buy the property, the City of Berkeley immediately sought an injunction, and the developer backed out of the deal. Rossmann, Moore, and Cowan stuck with the litigation to ensure the USPS officially rescinded its decision to sell and would be required to provide significant advance notice before reinitiating any sale or relocation of USPS services. On June 9, Rossmann, Moore, and Cowan were honored with a Berkeley City Council proclamation for their "tireless" work.